


cupcakes and candles

by inkchantress



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Ladynoir July, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, no beta we die like superheroes, no but i literally wrote all of this at 1 am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:54:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkchantress/pseuds/inkchantress
Summary: ladybug wakes up in an... interesting position. she tries to remember how she got there.(for ladynoir july)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 39
Kudos: 185





	cupcakes and candles

**Author's Note:**

> random fun fact: the original title for this was "five times ladybug said i love you (without actually saying it)"

Ladybug was in a bit of a pickle.

To say the least.

To the outside eye, there was absolutely nothing wrong about the situation she now found herself in. She wasn’t in any sort of imminent danger, in the middle of solving any sort of puzzle. Most, if not all, of the female population of Paris would kill to be in her situation right now. (Some of the males too.)

And yet… 

She didn’t know how to feel about it.

_Her giggling petered out and she took a bite of her cupcake. “What?”_

_His eyes glinted. The sun was setting, sending a burst of pink and orange across his face. “Okay, but listen--you get cold easily, right? And I purr sometimes?”_

_“Yeah?” she said, mouth full of red velvet._

_“Moths are attracted to lamps. It’s science. We bring a lamp, lure him out, and then--”_

_She grinned around her mouthful of cupcake. “That’s like--sprinkling birdseed to attract Mayura.”_

_He smiled, one of his sharp teeth poking out, cupcake crumbs scattered across his face. The colors in the sky made him look like part of a painting. “An excellent idea.”_

_She rolled her eyes._

_“Okay--but hear me out, my Lady--we bring some birdseed and a lamp, maybe some bug spray as a backup--”_

_She put her cupcake down and raised her hand. “No.”_

_“Why?”_

_“If it really does work--_ **_if_ ** _\--then I don’t want them to spray me in the face with it. Birdseed maybe, a lamp, fine, but_ **_no_ ** _bug spray--why are you laughing?”_

_He was giggling, a hand in front of his mouth. Chat Noir so rarely giggled like this--it was such a nice sound. “Because you’re funny.”_

_“No, I’m not!”_

_He raised an eyebrow at her in a cute kind of mischievous way, and she pouted her lips and crossed her arms. “Let’s see who’s laughing when they show up to the next fight with a laser pointer.”_

It was well past midnight. She hoped her parents hadn’t noticed she’d snuck out, or that she’d stolen two cupcakes from the shop and brought them with her.

The bag, embossed with the logo of the Dupain-Chengs and filled with cupcake crumbs, now lay strewn across the roof, like an afterthought. She was laying somewhat horizontally across the roof, and Chat Noir’s arms were around her.

She didn’t know how it happened.

But she didn’t hate it.

_She leaned in and rang his bell. The sun had just set, and the moon was rising. “What’s a stray cat doing so far from home at this late hour?”_

_“Hanging with his lady, of course,” he replied, so easily and smoothly it almost seemed like second nature. He leaned back onto the heels of his hands._

_“Don’t you have anything better to do?”_

_Chat Noir acted shocked. “Better? Than seeing you? No way.”_

_“Really? You wouldn’t rather be dancing the night away at a masquerade ball, or modeling for a magazine or something?”_

_Chat mumbled something in response._

_“What?”_

_He smiled. “Nothing. You know the best moments I have are with you, my Lady. Easily beats anything they’ve got for me back home.”_

_She paused. “What do you mean?”_

_He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it.”_

_“Okay…” Ladybug put her hand down--she hadn’t realized she’d kept it hovering at his bell for so long. “You can talk to me about anything, you know, Chaton.”_

_“Oh, Ladybug,” he replied sadly, smiling. “I can’t. You know that.”_

When she woke up, she was on top of his chest, her arms crossed over his heart. He was facing the sky with both of his arms wrapped around her back, and she could feel his heartbeat and the rise and fall of his breathing. Her head was nestled in the crook of her elbow, and her legs were curled up, resting on top of his.

 _Jeez._ She was so tired. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

Part of her felt uncomfortable going back to sleep somehow, like she was living a lie--but it felt far worse to leave him. 

And, well, she liked it.

 _There._ That was the truth. Ladybug liked it. _Happy now?_

_“Hey. Chat. Look.”_

_She was pointing over the side of the bridge with all the locks overlooking the Seine._

_“What?”_

_Ladybug pointed, increasingly more frantic, at the water’s surface, shining with the reflection of the moon. “Look!”_

_Chat Noir put both hands on the banister and craned his neck over the side. “All right, all right. I’m looking. What--”_

_She shoved him so he went sprawling over the side, limbs flailing. He only had time to get out a squawk of surprise before he was underwater. Ladybug cackled, holding her stomach._

_Chat surfaced, spitting water out of his mouth in an arc. “Ladybug!”_

_Ladybug was giggling so hard she barely heard him. He used his baton to raise himself out of the water, still spluttering. “My Lady! Betrayal!”_

_She grinned and tweaked his nose._

_He shook his head, splashing her with water, then frowned. “Oh, no.”_

_“What? What is it?”_

_He put a hand inside his pocket and panic surfaced on his face. “Oh, no, no,_ **_crap_ ** _…”_

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“I think something fell out of my pocket when you pushed me in…” Chat Noir squinted at the water’s surface. “Can you help me look for it?”_

_Ladybug squinted too, leaning over the side. “What does it look--”_

_Suddenly there was a shove at her back and she was falling from the bridge into the water below. With a loud splash, she hit the surface and came back up immediately, the ribbons on her pigtails wet down by the water. “Chat!”_

_Chat was laughing so hard, he needed his baton to hold him up. “Your face…”_

_She swung her yo-yo at the banister and swung up, dripping wet. “Okay, I probably deserved that.”_

_“You definitely deserved that,” he corrected._

_Both of them were soaked to the bone, water beading off of their suits, and for a brief moment Ladybug felt an inexplicably strong urge to cup his face in her hands. He was still giggling, mouth wide open like this was the funniest joke in the world, and she joined in._

Ladybug propped her chin up and watched him sleep. His mouth was just open enough to catch a glimpse of one sharp tooth poking between his lips. His right eye kept twitching, and his blond hair swept effortlessly over his forehead. Even horizontally, it was perfect.

 _Oh my God--get a grip, Marinette._ This was ridiculous. She was _not_ watching Chat Noir while he slept.

_“That’s Gemini,” he was saying, one claw pointing straight up at the sky. His head was in her lap, and they were both staring upwards. “Do you see it?”_

_“No, not--oh, wait, is that it?” Ladybug pointed to a set of stars that looked like it could be two stick figures, if she squinted really hard._

_“That’s it.”_

_“How do you know?”_

_He shrugged, a wistful look clouding his eyes. “I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid. My mother and I used to stargaze on the roof of our house.”_

_They were both wrapped in towels and surrounded by candles after an impromptu trip to the 24/7 dollar store (they worried about catching a cold from pushing each other into the river so much). Ladybug had picked out the towels, and Chat had come back to the cart carrying a whole armful of different scented candles--vanilla brown sugar, maple syrup, cranberry cinnamon. The cashier had given it all to them for free, which was nice of her, as neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir had any money on them. (Superheroes didn’t usually need to carry any.)_

_Ladybug drew her towel tighter around her shoulders. “Can you find the Big Dipper?”_

_“Maybe. It’s not always easily visible.” He squinted at the sky and pointed up, tracing the outline of the ladle. “Ah, there it is.”_

_“I see it!” Ladybug traced it with her finger--it looked incredible. She pointed at the end of the handle. “Is that one the north star?”_

_Chat Noir shook his head. “The north star is actually in the Ursa Minor--it’s over here.” He took her wrist and guided her finger over to a smaller-looking constellation to the left. “There.”_

_She let her finger drop after a few seconds of looking at it. “That’s amazing.”_

_He smiled up at her with this soft sort of smile. “You’re my north star, my Lady.”_

_She looked down at his face. “And you’re mine.”_

_That surprised them both. Ladybug turned red and Chat Noir sat up, his head coming out of her lap to stare at her. They just held eye contact for a few seconds after that, the light from the flickering streetlamp illuminating the side of his face._

How did anybody expect Marinette to just _sleep_ at a time like this?

Okay, well, she had done it before. Somehow, in a way she didn’t quite remember, she had ended up going to sleep on Chat’s chest.

But how was she expected to do it a _second_ time?

This was _Chat Noir._ Her partner, her best friend. They were in close proximity all the time--why was this any different?

This wasn’t any different. She was overthinking it.

The steady rhythm of his heartbeat made her drowsy. She sat up, then lay back down, then sat up again.

What was the _matter_ with her?

_Chat Noir blew the last scented candle out--caramel pumpkin spice--and they were in darkness, wrapped in towels with a stray cupcake bag strewn next to them on the roof._

_“It’s late,” said Ladybug through a yawn._

_“Yeah.”_

_“And it’s cold.”_

_“I know.”_

_She lay down on top of the roof, looking at the silhouette of Chat’s back against the moon. “That’s okay, though. You’re warm.”_

_He looked at her and slowly lay down to face her. Both of them were curled up under towels, their clasped hands beneath their heads, like kids at a sleepover. “I am?”_

_She nodded._

_“You are, too,” he said. She could only really see the outline of him now. “And you smell like vanilla. You smell like that scented candle.”_

_She had come to terms with the fact that she wouldn’t remember any of this when she woke up. She was far too tired to process what was happening, and he looked wiped out, too._

_“You smell like…” She wasn’t quite sure. “Like… baby powder.”_

_He snorted. “Baby powder?”_

_“Yeah. Baby powder and soap and cheese. And sometimes Old Spice when you’re trying to impress me.”_

_He didn’t say anything. A couple of seconds went by, and Ladybug drew her towel further around herself. The next words sort of popped out without her permission. “What do you like about me?”_

_“What do I like about you?”_

_She nodded._

_“You…” Chat Noir paused. “You’re pretty. And you’re smart. You smile at me when I say stupid things.”_

_She smiled at him._

_He grinned back. “Like that. You’re honest and you’re kind and your eyes sparkle in the rain. The sound of your laugh is my favorite song and your hugs feel like promises.”_

_Ladybug looked at him, and the silence seemed to stretch._

_“I like that you’re smart,” she said finally. “You’re a lot smarter than people give you credit for. And some of your jokes are actually funny.”_

_“Thank you.”_

_“Your bell makes a slightly different sound each time I ring it and I love the way your hair falls over your forehead. Your eyes are actually green, in real life, and sometimes you talk like you write poetry and you know all the constellations and your arms feel safe.”_

_“My arms feel safe?”_

_“Your arms feel safe.”_

_“Okay.”_

_A couple of seconds went by. “Do I really talk like I write poetry?”_

_“Yeah. Do you?”_

_“Sometimes.”_

_“I knew it. What do you write about?”_

_“You.”_

_“No way.”_

_“Way. I’ll write one right now.”_

_“All right. Let’s hear it.”_

_Chat Noir paused, thinking. “The bug’s got her spots, she’s coming to town.”_

_“Ooh, I like that.”_

_“Nothing and no one can knock her down.”_

_“That’s a nice rhyme.” She scooted closer. “Is there more?”_

_Chat swallowed. “With a smile on her face and eyes sky blue…”_

_Ladybug smiled and said nothing, waiting for him to finish._

_“You’re selfless and kind--” Chat coughed and sat up. “Nevermind. Forget it.”_

_“No,” said Ladybug softly. “I want to hear the rest.”_

_“It’s fine, I didn’t even really think of an ending anyway--”_

_“Please?”_

_He swallowed again. She tracked the movement with her eyes. “You’re selfless and kind, and I…”_

_“You what?”_

_“And I love you.”_

_He barely even whispered the words, but she heard them just the same._

_There was a long silence._

_It was abruptly broken by the wind. A gust of it blew particularly strong and hit Ladybug square in the face, and she was still wet from being tossed in the Seine earlier. She shivered. “I’m cold.”_

_He opened his arms wordlessly, and she climbed into them without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around her back, and the sound of his heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of his chest, rocked her to sleep._

Chat Noir was asleep. Ladybug would wager a guess at it being two or three in the morning, and she was exhausted.

His chest was warm, and his breathing was steady, and why not admit it? She liked this.

She put her lips to his forehead and wrapped her arms around his back, laying her head back down on his chest and feeling his heartbeat next to her ear. It was a steady rhythm.

And his arms felt safe.

So she slept.

**Author's Note:**

> i can't write poetry can you tell  
> dumbass teasing mutual pining ladynoir is my absolute favorite aesthetic let me tell you  
> i love these dumb kids so much
> 
> find me on [tumblr](https://carapeace.tumblr.com/)


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